Formula One: Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls encouraged by pre-season testing as Melbourne Grand Prix looms

The attention of the Formula One grid now falls on the season-opening Grand Prix in Melbourne next month.

The second pre-season test finished in Bahrain overnight, with the teams continuing to get a feel for their new machinery as they work towards getting off the starting line in the best possible manner.

For Kiwi driver Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls, it has been a productive week on track.

“We’ve learned a lot about the car and the power unit; both of which have run reliably all week. We’ve had a few minor issues, but nothing that will affect us once we get to Melbourne,” team principal Alan Permane said.

“Liam and Arvid [Lindblad] are quickly finding more performance and getting comfortable with the car. Over the last couple of days, we’ve also done some qualifying practice by running lower fuel to see how the car behaves on the limit, teaching us a lot about the car’s needs on this specific track.

“We will, of course, be taking these learnings with us to Melbourne and Shanghai.”

After completing 106 laps on day two of the testing window, Lawson did not drive on day three as rookie teammate Lindblad ran in the morning and afternoon sessions.

Lawson posted his fastest lap of the week during his time on track on day two, with a 1m 34.532s lap time being good enough for the 10th best of the day.

“It’s been a really encouraging week, learning new things about the car every day,” Lawson said.

“This season’s testing has proved to be more important than any other year, so it’s great to see the progress we’ve made in such a short space of time. It’s been a very big challenge, but reliability has been strong, so we feel prepared as a team to bring our package to Melbourne.”

Lindblad posted the fastest time of the two Racing Bulls drivers across the testing window, with a 1m 34.149s lap on day three. Racing Bulls completed the second-most laps as a team, with their 407 bettered only by Mercedes’ 432.

Lindblad’s fastest lap time ranked Racing Bulls as ninth fastest, ahead of Williams, Cadillac and Aston Martin – the best lap time of the latter two being more than a second slower than that of the Racing Bulls’ mark.

“We’ve completed two race simulations this week too. The car will continue to evolve quickly and we’ll have the first new parts arriving in Australia,” Permane said.

“What we’re seeing here will change rapidly and we’ll continue adding performance on a race-by-race basis. Two weeks testing in Bahrain has proved invaluable in giving the team a clearer picture of what to expect ahead of the first race and we feel as prepared as we can be for Melbourne.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.